Classical batting no hindrance for Amla

After SRH’s Kane Williamson scored 89 off 51 balls on Wednesday, South Africa batsman Hashim Amla scored a century for KXIP on Thursday to reassert that even classical batsman, who are no pwer-hitters can hit big and quick in T20 cricket.

The South Africa international’s first century of IPL was only the second scored this season. The first one was hit by Delhi Daredevils’ Sanju Samson (104) against Rising Pune Supergiant. Amla reached the milestone in 58 balls and his innings comprised eight boundaries and six sixes.

“It was really nice to get some runs. In T20s, you need to take high risks and high risks sometimes means high reward as well. The first two wickets we played in Indore were not as good as this one,” said Amla later.

Amla made his intentions clear from the beginning of the match when he slashed Mitchell McClenaghan for a boundary over backward point. However, he played cautiously over the next two overs as Shaun Marsh was hitting the big shots at the other end. The Proteas batsman took a special liking to Lasith Malinga who got a special welcome from Amla in his very first over. The second ball of Malinga’s first over was a shortpitched one and Amla hit it for a huge six over long-on.

In fact, Amla took 51 runs off Malinga, the second most by a batsman against a bowler in a single match.

Kohli’s 52 against Umesh Yadav remain the highest. Amla kept losing partners at the other end, but that did not hinder his innings.